


Son of Man

by CuteCat213



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance, Some Humor, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-25
Updated: 2014-09-25
Packaged: 2018-02-18 17:12:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2356151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CuteCat213/pseuds/CuteCat213
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a long and painful journey from boy to man, fraught with dangers and lessons- but also little moments of happiness and contentment. Regardless of what they go through, though; they'll do it together. Fluri (near the end, but hinted the whole way through).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the song Son of Man by Phil Collins from the movie Tarzan... and maybe a song or two from Aladdin...
> 
> Note: Slightly AU because the 360 game is my only canon. Disregards all other forms.

 

"You know, you really kinda suck at this..."

"Shut up!"

"Or what?"

"Or I'll make you!"

"Ha, I'd like to see you try!"

One fight later and his face pressed to the ground, Yuri was willing to admit the new kid on the street wasn't completely hopeless. "Apologize!"

Ebony eyes rolled, "Get off of me."

"Not until you apologize!"

"How about a warm place to sleep instead?"

The blonde was surprised enough that his grip eased and Yuri squirmed out from under him, leaving him on the ground looking confused, "What?"

He sighed, "You've been sitting there looking pitiful all day. This isn't the Public Quarter; looking pathetic isn't going to get you anything here. Pity is for the weak and the weak don't survive on the streets for long."

"I-I..."

Yuri tilted his head to the side at the devastated look on the other child's face, "Didn't lose 'em long ago, huh?"

"...No..."

None of the other orphans were going to do anything for a rival... Yuri held out his hand, "Come on, we need to hurry if we want to get anything to eat."

The blonde took his hand and he pulled him up, "Why are you being nice to me? No one else has."

"I already said: you suck at this. I'm Yuri, by the way."

"Flynn."

"Well, Flynn-" he grinned, "welcome to life in the Lower Quarter."

He led the way with Flynn sticking next to him like a bur, never letting go of his hand. But after being dragged quite a ways, he got curious, "Where are we going?"

Yuri held him back at the next intersection, his voice lowered as a pair of soldiers walked past, "I told you, to get food." they stopped by a water fountain and Yuri helped Flynn wipe off all the dust and dirt they could, little ears perked for that noise, then grinning when the school bell went off and dragging Flynn with him as he snuck through the wide bars of the school gate, "Come on. This place has so many kids the lunch ladies never know who's who and you can get a free meal. Only three times a week when it's in session, but free food is free food. Just make sure you don't look like a ragamuffin."

"You talk good."

"No: I talk  _well_. You have to if you want to fit in in the upper Quarters. Squashing your words like the others do gets you thrown out. You were raised around here, right? Talk like it."

Flynn puffed out his cheeks in a display of childish distemper, "Yes,  _Sir Yuri_ , I've had etiquette lessons."

"Remember them, then; there's no one to teach you now."

That seemed to hit the blonde boy hard and he was quiet the rest of way as Yuri slipped them into the crowd of equally small children. Yuri hissed at him as he dragged him along, and Flynn looked up to learn whatever it was Yuri wanted to show him, blue eyes widening as the dark haired boy pocketed several fruits and rolls from right under the adults' noses, and  _no one noticed_. Flynn wasn't sure which he should feel more; upset that Yuri was stealing, or amazed that he was doing it so easily. What was probably the most amazing part was  _how_  he did it; he wasn't sneaking around and being- well, 'thiefy', he was  _talking to people_.

"Lessons today  _sucked_."

The girl next to him in line looked over in excitement, "I  _know_! I  _hate_  figuring!"

The women at the counter rolled their eyes at the bickering children, and Yuri stealthily grabbed an extra apple that slipped into his clothes as they turned to share looks that said loud as words 'Children...' If anything,  _Flynn_  was drawing more attention for sticking so close to Yuri and not saying anything, but when they he got asked about it, Yuri stepped in and said he was just shy and new.

As the crowd began to thin out as everyone got settled to eat, Yuri led them away and back outside to sneak away again, "Always slip out before anyone really notices you and whatever happens,  _don't_  stay until the end of lunch. They'll grab you and stick you in the classes 'cause they think you're trying to skip out, and the tutors  _do_  know every student they teach."

"I- you- you stole that stuff."

Yuri gave him a scolding look, "Look, Flynn, I know you're new to this, so I'm gonna make this clear as I can." Yuri looked him square in the eyes, "Your parents are dead." he jolted, his face turning red and he was ready to tackle the other boy again when Yuri grabbed his shoulders, "They're  _dead_ , and there's no one to take care of you now. If you don't get used to doing what you have to, you'll get to see them again real soon, because you won't survive with ideas like that. No one in that school is going hungry because of what we took- those high-class kids don't know what it is to miss more than a single meal. When was the last time you ate?"

The blonde looked away, "Yesterday morning..."

"This food is our  _life_. We aren't harming anyone, and we get to survive another day. It's not right, and it's not fair; life isn't fair; it's not fair that we don't have our parents, and it's not fair that we have to take care of ourselves, but we  _do_  have to. It's a choice of bad options, and I'm picking the one that lets me live. What about you?"

"I... I'm hungry, and I want my parents back. I don't like it. You're right, it's not fair."

"So do whatever it takes to survive  _now_ , and worry about making it fair later."

Flynn sat in silence with the other boy beneath the shade of a tree and they spilt the pilfered food between them while he thought about everything he'd learned. He thought about all the people that had walked past him in the past two days, and he thought about how Yuri hadn't. Even when he'd attacked the other boy- okay, he'd been insulted, kinda; but his mother had always told him not to resort to violence- Yuri had still decided to help him, even though he had no reason to. Certainly none of the other children had tried to approach him. Maybe Yuri didn't like the unfairness, either.

He felt something shift within himself at that thought, because Yuri didn't seem to let anything get him down. He trudged onward; even after he'd been put in the dirt, then turned right around and helped the one that had done it. 'Strength of heart' his father had called that. Yuri spoke calmly about how things were, and he spoke with something else when he said about changing them. Was it really that simple? Do now, worry later?

He stared down at the partially-eaten apple-half in his hands, then over at the other boy, who was focusing all his attention on the bread roll he was eating. Flynn's mouth opened before he could stop himself, "Teach me."

Yuri almost choked on his food before looking at the blonde, finding determination in his blue eyes like a fire, "We'll have to do more bad things, you know. Steal, things like that. Sure you can handle that?"

Flynn looked away, but only for a moment, "Yes. It's not fair, not now, but I'll do what I have to to make it fair later. So teach me how."

Yuri stared at him for a while, with dark eyes that seemed to go right through him, until he shifted in place uncomfortably, then smiled, "Alright, I'll teach you." Flynn slumped in relief, some part of him that had been afraid of someone else being taken from him soothed by the reassurance that Yuri would stay with him. The dark haired boy glanced up from the last of his meal a little bit later, "Where did you learn to fight like that? Formal training?" Flynn nodded, "Teach me some of that."

"Okay."

The bell rang and Yuri stood up, dusting his pants off, "And that's our signal; time to go." Flynn shoved the last of his apple in his mouth and took Yuri's offered hand, placing his trust in the boy- the only one who'd shown any concern since his parents' death, who had such a strong sense of fairness, who most adults would have called a street-rat. It felt right.


	2. Chapter 2

Yuri's laughter rang out across the deserted park, "That's Yuri; seven, Flynn; zero." The smug boy stood with his hands on his hips, grinning down at the pouting blonde. In a fit of temper, Flynn grabbed Yuri's hand and pulled him down into the pond with him, "Whoa!"

Splash! The blond boy smiled over at the now narrowed onyx gaze, before being promptly splashed with a wave of water, "Ack!" Oh, that was it; he threw himself at Yuri with a huge grin, tackling him into the water of the pond he'd been practicing his balance over. They tussled good-naturedly, and while Yuri was  _harder_  to pin all slippery, it wasn't too long before Flynn once again had him on his back.

"Enough, enough! *cough* I think I got water up my nose." Flynn immediately let him up and Yuri turned away, hacking and ringing the water from his hair. Flynn stepped up next to him, smiling as he helped corral the midnight mess and offered Yuri the shoe he'd lost in the scuffle. The other boy smirked and rolled his eyes, putting his hand over Flynn's face and sending him tumbling back into the water again.

The blonde didn't care, emerging with a laugh as Yuri started ringing out his clothes; shoes and socks ranking highest-  _"Feet are your most important asset, if you can't walk, you can't do anything. Be careful not to let blisters turn into sores."_

He leaned against the tree that was the other base for the make-do balancing beam they'd set up, "You just  _looove_  getting me all wet, don't you?"

No regrets, Flynn smiled, "You look so much like an affronted cat like that."

"You want to see cat? Back on the beam." So saying, Yuri hopped up on the bench that was the other base and effortlessly began treading the narrow, stout fallen tree limb Flynn had been  _trying_  to cross for over two hours, as casually as he strolled down the street. He made a show of holding his arms out for balance -Flynn snorted- then he smirked down at the other boy and did a backflip on the branch, not faltering or falling even with the shaking- even  _wet_.

Flynn pouted again, "Now you're just showing off."

Yuri didn't even deny it, "A little."

Flynn sighed and rolled his eyes, getting up again and trying once more to ford the mini-obstacle course. What was the point? He would never be as good at this as Yuri; his whole style was very much a grounded, spread stance; Yuri was constant motion bouncing energy. Watching where he was carefully placing his feet, arms outstretched to help, he wobbled back and forth like a branch in a storm. And he was just and wet as Yuri, too.

Sure enough, his foot slipped from the limb and he was headed toward the water again... until he jerked to a stop with a squeak of surprise and looked back to see Yuri leaning half-way off the other side of the branch to steady him, "Whoa, there."

Carefully, Yuri helped him get his other foot back on the branch until they were both standing facing each other; Yuri steady while Flynn still shook in a constant effort to compensate for the movement he was causing. His shoulders slumped, he was never going to get this. Just as he opened his mouth to admit defeat-

"Watch me." Aquamarine eyes glanced up to catch obsidian, Yuri's hands tightened on his own, "Don't look down, Flynn. Watch me."

"But-" if he couldn't see where to place his feet...

"Trust in your body to know; trust  _me_ , I won't let you fall."

The sun seemed to break through the leaves overhead and on land on Yuri, lighting him up, and Flynn wasn't sure he could have looked away if he'd tried. But from the very beginning that had been the one thing he never questioned; he trusted Yuri implicitly. So he nodded, watching that usually muted expression morph into a full-fledged smile, and he felt himself being pulled forward. He never looked down- never even looked away from the dark eyes staring unashamedly right back.

Then Yuri's smile got even bigger, and Flynn looked down in confusion, seeing them at the very end of the limb. He'd done it! Still not quite up to Yuri's level- who could apparently do it backwards and blindfolded... But still! Flynn's own grin threatened to split his face as they shared the exultation of success equally. The blond couldn't help himself and threw himself at the other boy in a grateful hug.

"Oi! Don't-"

Splash!

He glanced up sheepishly to see Yuri giving him a wry look, and was splashed again for his trouble, before they both broke down in laughter.


	3. Chapter 3

"Flynn, stop!"

"Come back, Yuri! Where are you going?!"

"Would you  _stop_  calling that stupid cat by my name? Flynn, come  _back_!"

The blonde didn't listen as he chased after the small black cat through the streets of the Public Quarter. He knew Yuri- the human one- didn't care much for little kitten-Yuri, always complaining about how much of their food the cat was taking, but he always put up with it anyway, for Flynn. The kitten had been theirs for two weeks now, Flynn -obviously- had been the one to name it- him. The little black kitten just acted so much like his best friend: just as soft, just as proud... just as snuggly, too.

Flynn had gotten the rather distinct feeling that Yuri only pretended to dislike his feline counterpart, Flynn had caught him sharing his food with the purring scrap of fur, which Yuri claimed he only did so that Flynn didn't waste his own food. Kitten Yuri seemed to  _love_  his human, though; always sneaking in and curling up in Yuri's hair ("Tangled it terribly, stupid furball...") and liked to go with them by clinging to Yuri's shoulder ("I'm going to be spring a leak the next time I take a drink at this rate, would you  _get it off me?_ ").

As much as he'd complained, though, Yuri had been the one to get the kitten out of any trees or pipes he got stuck in, and the one that gave him the bath afterwards. So Yuri telling him to stop chasing the feline just because he'd gotten scared off by a dog confused Flynn. Nevermind, Yuri was probably just hiding his feelings for the kitten again.

By the time he caught up with the small cat and plucked him up, Flynn was completely lost- lost human-Yuri, too. He held the shaking kitten close as he tried to get his bearings, but none of the buildings looked remotely familiar. He'd learned the Lower Quarter pretty well by now, and he recognized most of the Public Quarter, too, but absolutely nothing around him sparked any kind of memory. In fact, the buildings were much bigger than what he was used to, and the streets were ridiculously wide. Where in the world was he?

"Flynn!"

He turned around, spotting the mop of dark hair running towards him, and waved, his face lighting up. Even if he was lost, Yuri knew the whole city inside and out, "Yuri! I found him!"

Yuri- the one in front of him, not the one in his arms- was huffing by the time he got to Flynn, but tugged at his arm insistently, looking around suspiciously, "Yeah, great. Now let's go. We have to get out of here."

"Where are we, anyway?"

"This is-"

"You there!"

"Damn!" Flynn was surprised, Yuri didn't curse often. He felt guilty for the thought even as he wondered if Yuri had stolen something from here and gotten caught.

Flynn didn't like the man that approached them at all; his whole demeanor set him off. "What's riffraff like yourself doing in the Royal Quarter?"

The Royal Quarter?! Oh... Now he knew why Yuri had cursed; Flynn had heard nothing but horror stories about orphans' chances in the highest rung of society in the city. But he was still rather confused and leaned closer to Yuri, "What's riffraff?"

Yuri's head was lowered, his eyes hidden behind the curtain of his hair, and his hands curled into tight fists as he answered, "It means 'trash'."

Flynn stiffened. If there was one person who was  _anything_  but trash, it was Yuri. Yuri was everything that was good and kind in people, Flynn would probably have died a long time ago if it hadn't been for Yuri. The strength of that reaction meant it couldn't have been the first time Yuri had been called something like that. It took everything in him not to throw himself at the man before them, "Yuri is  _not_  trash! You stupid grown-up, you don't know anything about him!"

The pompous man looked down his nose at them, "Vulgar street-rats; I'd blame your parents for your attitude if you had any."

 _No one_  got to insult his parents. Flynn shook in rage, "My father had a name for people like you. That name was over-perfumed, ruffled, royal-ass-kissing monkeys."

"Why you little vermin...!" he reached out to backhand the blonde and pulled his hand back with a shout, kitten-Yuri hissing from where he'd climbed to Flynn's shoulder and scratched the noble.

By then they'd started to gather a crowd, and Yuri was still trying to urge him away, but then the man plucked the cat from his shoulder by its scruff and he started yowling. Flynn wasted no time in kicking the man's shin, "Let him go! You're hurting him!"

Some guards appeared and grabbed them both as the noble sneered, "Oh, I shall let the flea-bag go."

Flynn watched in horror as their kitten was held out over the waterway below, "No!" The black feline screeched as he was let go of. In an instant, his Yuri slammed an elbow back into the groin of the soldier holding him, who doubled over in pain. Before Flynn could figure out what was going on, Yuri ran to the edge of the bridge and threw himself over the side into the raging current below, "Yuuuurriii!"

He broke away from the guard holding him, the adults just as shocked as him, but not the least motivated to save the child. What was it to  _them_  if there was one less 'street-rat' to sully their pretty city?  _Bastards._  In that moment, Flynn hated them all; all the bitterness he'd been holding back since he'd lost his parents manifesting in that instant. What did Yuri- the innocent kitten,  _or_  the amazing person- matter to them? But he was Flynn's  _everything_. Yuri was Flynn's whole world and he ran to the edge of the bridge, looking over the side, desperately searching for that head of dark hair he knew so well.

"Yuri! Yuri!"

He didn't see anything except the rushing water.  _Think!_  Where had Yuri said this particular waterway let out at? Flynn was moving before he gave his feet the order to, racing through the streets and hoards of adults that didn't know or care about him in the least. He made a left turn, running parallel to the aqueduct and frantically checking both sides for anywhere Yuri might have pulled himself out. His heart beat a frantic rhythm against his chest as panic set in the farther he went with no sign.

He almost tripped over his feet when he spotted a dark smudge in the distance, running faster than he ever had before and falling to his knees beside the soaked, still form, not daring to touch, "Yuri? Yuri, please, please,  _please_  be okay. I can't do this without you. Please, I can't lose you, too!"

A single dark eye squinted open at him, "Stop shouting. I'm right here."

"Yuri!" Flynn threw himself at the other boy, ignoring the chill water seeping through his clothes, "Thank you, thank you, thank you for being okay."

"Careful."

He leaned back like he'd been burned, "Are you hurt?"

Yuri sat up, pulling his feet from the tugging current and opening his shirt, "Nah, I'm fine, but you were squishing the furball."

Kitten-Yuri looked up from the warmth of his human counterpart's chest, "*mew*"

Flynn couldn't get the image of the last time he'd seen Yuri out of his head as he rubbed the kitten's ears, "Yuri... you aren't riffraff to me."

The dark haired boy gave him a searching look, Flynn didn't look away, and Yuri finally glanced down at the kitten he'd saved, "Troublesome furball. I am  _such_  a dog-person..."

Flynn couldn't help the soft smile on his face as he watched Yuri beaming down at the ruffled cat, leaning his head against the wet silken hair, "Thank you for saving him... but  _please_  don't ever do something like that again. I can't lose you, too, Yuri."

The other boy scoffed and looked away, his cheeks reddening, "Idiot, you won't lose me. I won't let anything take me away. You're stuck with me for the rest of forever."

Flynn thought that just maybe he shouldn't have found that as absolutely relieving as he did, but he couldn't bring himself to care as he hugged Yuri- both of him- and tried to share body heat.


	4. Chapter 4

Yuri rolled his shoulders and groaned. He was getting better at fighting, yeah; he was also sadly getting used to being black and blue. Flynn was a pretty good student; teacher, not so much. His 'lessons' consisted of speaking about precisely  _how_  it was he was beating Yuri's ass- while demonstrating at the same time. Learning 'swordwork' was just as much fun, and usually naturally led to the unarmed kind.

It started off well enough: Flynn would pick up a stick and get into position, Yuri would do his best to copy him... and that's about where it started going downhill. Yuri couldn't quite get the forms and motions when Flynn went through them, which meant he unerringly got the greater portion of the bruises while he tried to block and parry, but through emerging skill or sheer dumb luck, he managed to get his own fair share of painful hits in on the blonde. 'Training' only lasted as long as their tempers did before they tossed aside the sticks and settled things the good old-fashioned way.

His wounds weren't at all salved by the fact that he hadn't beat Flynn to date. It would have been enough to just give up on it if he hadn't actually  _felt_  himself improving. Every time they went at it, it was just a little bit easier than the time before, his stance a little more natural, his stamina a little greater. He'd discovered -much like he'd been trying to teach Flynn for months- that he didn't have to perfectly imitate Flynn. Flynn's style worked well for him, but it was all wrong for Yuri, and Yuri had given up on trying to copy it because he  _wasn't_  Flynn. He was more slender, and he didn't have the physique to go toe-to-toe against the blonde and come out on top; it just wasn't possible for him.

So slowly, but surely, he had been developing his own style. He moved around a lot more than Flynn, looking for weak points while Flynn's method was to wait out his opponent as they wasted themselves against the bastion of his strength. Flynn was straight forward and powerful, so Yuri countered with agility and stealth. The closest he had come to a victory was when he'd twirled his 'sword' over his shoulder while he ducked beneath a swing of Flynn's that would undoubtedly have put him down hard if it'd hit, and Flynn was so busy focusing on where the weapon had been he'd forgotten to keep track of where Yuri himself was. He'd still lost, but the margin by which he was losing was getting narrower every time they went at it.

Which, while satisfying, really didn't do much for his screaming muscles. Yuri whined pathetically as he laid down on the bed,  _really_  not caring if he took up more than his share because dammit, this was all Flynn's fault anyway. His shoulders throbbed more than anything, and he couldn't even feel his arms. The constant vibration and strain of blocking Flynn's hits- and while he certainly wasn't pulling any punches either, Flynn hit  _harder_ \- took a savage toll, not helped by his own style which had him constantly rolling the sturdy stick across his shoulders and upper back for his own moves.

If Flynn wanted his half of the bed, he was just going to have to roll Yuri over his own damn self- for that matter, he'd have to boot the kitten to the foot of the bed if he wanted his pillow, too. Lord help him if he actually wanted under the blanket. Instead of wrestling him out of the way like Yuri half expected, Flynn-

He raised his head the two inches he could, trying to see over his back, "Are you  _sitting on me?_ " Oh, good, he still had the energy to feel indignation.

"Just... trust me for a bit. Take off your shirt."

"Flynn, if I had the energy to get undressed, do you think I'd still have my clothes on?"

Blue eyes rolled and the blonde helped him peel off his top- wrestled off his shoes and socks for him, too; bless him. Yuri's head flopped right back on the pillow as his arms fell limp beside him again, "...Ow..."

Yuri really couldn't work up the energy to care about why Flynn wanted to sit on him, more power to him if he thought he could get sleep like that because Yuri sure as hell wasn't- "Oh my god, what are you doing?" He moaned in bliss.

"My mom used to do this for me when my teacher worked me too hard and my muscles locked up."

"Bless her soul. Oh, god~" Yuri felt too good to care how that sounded and too tired to hold in his shameless moan as Flynn's fingers hit a knot that had been bothering him for forever. "If you stop I'll- I'll... well, I haven't figured out what yet, but you'll regret it. Oh! I'll make you cook for yourself."

Flynn's laughter shook his whole body pleasantly as he worked his way up from the small of his back, "I'll remember that." and take the threat seriously, because if ever there were a cruel and unusual punishment, it would be Flynn's attempts (and many, many failures) at cooking. He didn't  _think_  Yuri was that cruel, but better safe than sorry. Flynn worked at a particularly bad knot, "How could you even move with everything this knotted up?"

"I can't feel anything but pain lately; what's a little more?"

Flynn's hands stilled for a moment, "Have I really been hurting you, Yuri?"

He cracked open an onyx eye and looked back to catch Flynn's guilty expression, "I'll survive. I always do." That had, apparently, been the wrong thing to say.

Flynn looked devastated, "I'm so sorry. I'l-"

"If you even think of going easier on me I'm rolling over and tossing you to the floor."

Sky blue eyes blinked at him, "...What?"

"You're training me, Flynn, and that training might save my life one day. Don't you dare pull your punches, nobody else ever will; and if I can take what you dish out, I'm not worried about what anyone else can do. It hurts, yes, but  _hurt_  is infinitely better than  _dead_."

Flynn flinched at the last word. He set back to massaging out Yuri's kinks, "I don't ever want to hurt you, Yuri."

The dark haired boy sighed, "Flynn... Pain is a part of life." he let out a small yelp as Flynn hit a particularly sensitive spot and the blonde frowned, using his knuckles to work out the knot until the muscle relaxed and Yuri sagged in relief, "But there are times when it's healing, too; that saves from greater pain." And Flynn was subjected to one of those special looks Yuri had that was somewhere between a soft smile and a self-satisfied smirk.

Flynn was about to open his mouth to argue when the reality hit him upside the head. Here he was painfully digging into Yuri's back to rid him of the stiff muscles that would hurt him more down the line if left untreated. He thought about it more as he continued his task. Yuri always did that; took something that was bothering Flynn, even something small, and turned it into this huge life lesson that he'd carry with him as long as he lived. How was it possible for him to be so wise and knowledgeable? Flynn knew he was older, but the years Yuri had spent on the streets before they'd met sometimes made him feel like Yuri had already lived an entire lifetime without him, forced to learn those things on his own. And nothing hurt Flynn more than that thought, that Yuri had already gone through so much he shouldn't have had to.

He sighed and tried not to let it worry him, "Where do you-" he stopped, blinked, then smiled and shook his head. Yuri's whole body was limp in sleep, his face relaxed against the pillow under his cheek. Flynn brushed the other boy's hair away from his face, "How do you do it all, Yuri...?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Yuri!"

The dark haired boy struggled against his captors, "Get off me, pig! Flynn,  _run_!"

No! It was his fault this had happened!  _He_  was the one who'd gotten caught stealing, Yuri shouldn't be the one to pay for his mistake. It was so stupid; Flynn couldn't even go toe-to-toe with trained knights, what had Yuri been thinking to put himself between them?!

Flynn felt like hitting himself for even thinking it; Yuri had obviously been thinking only of saving Flynn from his own foolish mistake. His aim with that stone had been absolutely perfect, they'd almost gotten away, too, until the second knight had shown up and grabbed Yuri by the arm, slamming him into the ground with force that would have hurt a full grown man. Now it didn't matter if Flynn didn't stand a chance, that man  _hurt_  Yuri. That was the only thing on his mind as he threw himself at the knight, late-night lessons running through his head one after the other.

_"This works well on bigger opponents: go for the legs, from behind, like this, at the knees. Works on even the biggest guys. That gets them down, then the key is getting them to_ _**stay** _ _down."_

Flynn threw his entire body against the knight's knees from behind. He wasn't able to do much as they both went down on top of Yuri and the dark haired child let out a scream that shook Flynn to his core, but he couldn't stop there; the other knight that Yuri had taken out with the rock seemed to be coming around. So without a hint of restraint -no remorse, either, even for a fellow male- Flynn brought his knee up as hard as he could between the fallen soldier's legs, wincing at the shout by his ear as the man rolled over and gagged at the overwhelming pain.

They were running out of time, they had to leave  _now_. He crouched by Yuri and helped him upright, ebony eyes squinted shut and face screwed up in pain. Flynn hesitated when the slightest touch of Yuri's left shoulder made him flinch and bite back a moan of pain. But he had no choice: Yuri's ankle was twisted from that fall, so injured shoulder or not, Flynn had no choice but to pull him up and hold his arm across his back in order to help Yuri hobble.

Every step was filled with quietly whispered apologies, but Flynn didn't stop, even as tears streamed down over dust-covered pale cheeks and left streaks. He hated himself a lot right then, but he knew he'd hate himself more if he let Yuri's pain come to nothing by getting them caught. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

But he didn't stop. They did have to pause several times and duck into alleys so that rallied soldiers running by didn't spot them, and Yuri muffled himself against Flynn's neck as the blonde hugged him close, waiting for the coast to clear, whispering silent words of praise and apology and encouragement against Yuri's temple, running his fingers as soothingly through the dark locks as he could. Then when the knights passed, he once again forced them onwards, closer to the Lower Quarter and safety.

By the time they got back it had gone from late afternoon to nighttime, the moon was lighting the darkened streets as they hobbled up the stairs one at a time, and Flynn had never thought much of them before, but oh, how he hated those steps at that moment for all the agony they cost Yuri getting him up them. He was almost carrying him by the time he managed to open the door; Yuri's face buried against his neck, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs. He pulled away carefully, shocked to see Yuri's lip bitten clean through; to muffle the sound of his crying, obviously.

 _All my fault_. The thought echoed through his brain. All because he'd been an idiot and gotten caught. He reached for Yuri's cheek, hesitating just before actually touching, and his voice when he finally found it was thick with emotion, " _Yuri..._  I'm so _so_  sorry."

The obsidian eyes that blinked open, pain-drunk and swimming, didn't hold any blame or condemnation, "'M fine. Jus'..." he trailed off, taking a deep breath- that hitched several times in the middle, "H-help me."

"What do I do?"

"My arm..." the last word ended on a whimper, "'S out of the socket, need you to put it back in."

That sounded terrifying, "H-how do I do that?"

"Gotta hold it t-tight a-and... pull st-straight out, then push it b-back into the socket."

He was supposed to do what?! No. He couldn't- Flynn closed his eyes and took a deep breath of his own.  _He_  didn't really matter at the moment, did he? He'd done this to Yuri, now he had to do whatever it took to fix it. He carefully gripped Yuri's bad arm, ignoring the pained whimper that ripped at his heart, and slowly but steadily pulled hard on it, feeling the grating of bone against bone as Yuri cried out. "Yuri?!"

"H-h-higher!" Rotating the injured limb up a bit, he felt the shift, wondering what it could possibly feel like on Yuri's end, "Now!" Flynn grimaced as he pushed forward and felt the  _snap_  of the bone settling back into its proper place. Yuri fell backwards on the bed and tried to curl up in a ball, his arm left out like a dead thing.

Flynn didn't let him, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please, Yuri; for me. We have to get your clothes off, especially-" the pained sound Yuri gave off at the mere suggestion of removing his footwear shut Flynn up. Leaning his head against Yuri's knees Flynn gave praying a try. He prayed for a little more strength to get Yuri through this. Then he took a deep breath and set about tending to Yuri's ankle. Flynn didn't let himself hesitate, and he didn't let Yuri yank his foot back and risk hurting himself more as he pried the shoe and sock off the injured foot, then the other, deciding it wasn't worth the pain it would cause to wrestle Yuri's top off.

By the time he was finished, Yuri's whole body shook with sobs he couldn't hold in anymore; the first time Flynn had ever seen him cry. He rolled away to face the wall and put his back to Flynn, hiding his face in his pillow as he shook with pain. Flynn didn't hesitate to displace the cat that he usually allowed to monopolize his pillow, slipping into bed right behind Yuri and pulling him close, even when he struggled to keep his face hidden. It wasn't in Flynn to let him suffer this alone for the pretense of strength. He knew Yuri was strong, he'd known that when he hadn't cried out walking miles on a sprained ankle with his dislocated shoulder being used to help him hobble along; he'd known it long before that, and every step had only confirmed it further and made Flynn's respect for the other boy grow stronger.

"Yuri... let me-"

"C-can't. In the L-Lower Quarter, th-there's no one to comfort you, no one t-to wipe away t-tears."

" _I'm here_. Yuri, we may no have anyone else, but we'll  _always_  have each other." He didn't know where the fierce determination in his voice came from, and he really couldn't care less, "Mine forever, remember?" Okay, that had not been the exact phrasing, but close enough, "Trust me."

Yuri's good arm came up and wrapped fingers in his shirt and, with a nod, Yuri buried his face against Flynn's chest and cried his heart out. His arm and shoulder burned like they were on fire and his whole leg from toes to knee throbbed with a stabbing pain like someone had run it through with a sword and he just  _hurt_  and it was too damn much to deal with on his own.

But he didn't have to deal with it on his own. Flynn was there, a solid presence he could lean on when he wasn't strong enough, whispering soft words against his hair, the feel of his steady heart beating under Yuri's palm.


	6. Chapter 6

"Come on, Flynn. How long are you going to take?"

"Not all of us can ninja-flip through an open window."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was under the impression we were trying to steal some food- you know-  _stealthily_. Because nothing says 'completely innocuous' like complaining shrubbery."

Flynn let out another grumble as he eyed the distance between the open warehouse window and his perch in the tree. This was the culmination of Yuri's training for him, and with one last sigh, he ran across the branch- only shaking it a little, and leapt, landing on solid ground- well, mostly. Yuri grabbed the back of his outfit and hauled him backwards so he no longer teetered on the edge of the narrow windowsill. He let a relieved breath and grinned at his accomplice, "There."

Yuri smirked, "Not bad." He complimented, before hooking a small, home-made grapple to the sill and slithering down the rope to the warehouse floor with effortless grace. Flynn grimaced and grabbed the rope, inching down the rope hand over hand while Yuri waited at the bottom, leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

Flynn rolled his eyes as he touched down, voice low, "You are  _such_  a show-off."

"Right, because it's not like you flaunt your fighting abilities at every opportunity large and small..."

Yuri had him there, and they both knew it, he sighed and gave up the fight, motioning for Yuri to lead the way. All that he'd learned and he was still a beginner in all of this. They snuck through the warehouse until they found the food crates, and Yuri showed him how to take from them in a way that no one would notice. It only worked during the height of the season when there was an abundance of the crops so that no one would notice a few missing. Yuri pried up single corners of crates, careful not to bend the nails, and produced sacks from inside his clothing that they hoarded away their hard-won prizes in.

Root vegetables would last for a significant time, and if they put them in the underground caches Yuri had taught him how to make, they'd be able to last them well into winter. Flynn took note, though... "Yuri, don't you think you have enough sugar beets, there? They might notice more."

The dark-haired boy froze, his hand mid-reach for another of them, "Er, right..." With great reluctance, he closed the crate. Flynn didn't even try to hold back his grin. He'd discovered Yuri's insatiable sweet tooth during the fall Harvest Festival, where is was common for children to get sweets as treats; Flynn found it was, without a doubt, Yuri's favorite day of the entire year, and the look Yuri had given him when he'd handed over the stick of rock candy he'd gotten for him was one that would forever be burned into his mind.

They didn't put too much in any one bag, spreading them out so they could be hidden in their clothes without suspicious bulges. It didn't take them long to thoroughly stock up on a multitude of vegetables they'd need later, and it was barely two hours after entering that they were ready to leave. They'd likely return for a second trip, but that was for another day.

Flynn sighed as, with the same grace he'd slithered down the rope, Yuri squirreled right back up it without issue- even despite the extra weight from their pilfered goods. It took Flynn five minutes to climb the rope back up with his hands and knees, and he garnered several bruises from swinging around and banging into the wall time and again. Yuri didn't make fun of him for it, just smiled in triumph as he pulled up the rope and hid it away on his person. Flynn could already tell Yuri was on a success high, and they hadn't even gotten away cleanly yet.

With cat-like grace he'd come to envy- he was pretty sure even kitten-Yuri envied human-Yuri's grace and balance- Yuri cold-sprang from the windowsill to the tree limb they'd originally come from. He didn't even try to land on it, merely grabbed it with his hands to swing to a lower, sturdier branch. Flynn grimaced and looked down to the ground  _very_  far below... Then he sighed and jumped.

The branch he'd been aiming for was not the one he hit, and he had an instant to feel his stomach drop before the rest of him followed after it, holding in a yelp when Yuri caught his arm and swung him safely to the next-lower branch. Clinging to the limb for a few minutes, Flynn tried to convince his heart that he was not, in fact, dead, nor plunging to his death below. Eventually it believed him enough for him to let go and follow Yuri down the tree, letting out a huge breath of relief when his feet were safely back on the ground again.

Yuri grinned hugely, and Flynn knew they weren't safe until they were back in the Lower Quarter, but it was hard not to be exultant about their success, and, since he was being thankful,  _being alive_. Once again thanks to Yuri.  _Caused_  by Yuri, too, but that was an occupational hazard. They made their way towards the Lower Quarter at a quick walk, but they didn't run- that would attract too much attention.

"Flynn?!"

"Eh?" He stopped in the middle of the street, Yuri looking at him in confusion as they both looked around for the source of the voice. He turned around and spotted a man walking towards them, one he  _knew_! "T-teacher?!"

Yuri blinked, looked at the man, then back to Flynn and blinked again, "This is your fighting instructor? What-"

"I'm so glad to see that you're alright. I looked all over for you, your father and I had an agreement that if either of us died the other would take care of any children."

"Eh!?" Wait, everything was happening too fast. First his old instructor just appeared in the middle of- oh, wait, this was the Public Quarter, and the buildings looked very familiar; he'd lived near here before- before everything.

He'd liked his instructor well enough, well enough to learn from him and respect him, but to live with him forever? And what about Yuri? Experience had shown most adults outside the Lower Quarter didn't care about him at all. Would Yuri even  _want_  to live with Flynn's instructor? The thought of Yuri closed inside a manor all day, forced to be tutored and told when to go to sleep and what to do struck Flynn as just  _wrong_. Yuri wouldn't do well behind stone walls.

For that matter...  _Flynn_  wouldn't do well behind them now, not without Yuri.

He took a step backwards, glancing over to see Yuri pinning him in place with ebony orbs, ignoring the adult who ignored him just as well, waiting for Flynn to decide. Flynn decided: "Run."

A smirk started, quickly overtaken by a grin as Yuri grabbed his hand and they ran. There was a shout behind them, but Yuri weaved them into crowds of people and through storefronts without pause or hesitation. A call for the guards had them take a detour down an old alley where Yuri opened an old grate to the aqueducts- dry in the fall preparation for winter freezing, and they managed to wriggle through them all the way down to the Lower Quarter.

Yuri was oddly quiet as they approached the apartment and slipped behind it to the small gardening area where they set about caching their vegetable prize. Yuri didn't even hesitate over burying the sugar beets. When they got back up to the room, Yuri curled up on the bed, kitten-Yuri seeking attention by walking all over his lap until he got petted. "...Why didn't you go?"

Flynn looked over in confusion, "What?"

"Why didn't you go with him? You could have had a family again."

The blonde shook his head, "I already have a family right here. You're all I need."

Yuri didn't respond after that, but his smile as he looked down and indulged the feline on his lap spoke for him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know: Not Earth, no Christ. I'm still calling it Christmas.

Yuri's breath came out in huffs of frosted fog with every exhale. Flynn shivered beside him, The Furball tucked against his chest under his meager clothes. This was without a doubt the coldest winter they'd ever seen. Winter in the Lower Quarter had been a shock for Flynn who'd had the privilege of his parents. Winter back then was about fun and snowball fights and building forts and coming inside to cozy warmth and hot chocolate; a time of family and celebration and togetherness and presents.

Not so with orphans in the Lower Quarter. Winter was a dangerous time of trying to conserve warmth and find enough food to survive through the killing season until spring came and warmed the world again. Snow wasn't a wonder of fun to toss about, it was death in a fluffy, white disguise. Already they both went to bed with all their clothes on and snuggled together to share warmth. Staring out over the frozen-over blastia in the square, Flynn honestly wondered what he'd ever seen in winter.

It had started bitter cold and gotten worse from there. Ground caches had become unreachable because the ground had frozen solid. Crime rate was up, everything from food to precious firewood. Desperate people seeking any source of heat had already resulted in a number of fires around Zaphias; even up in the Public Quarter. The Lower Quarter was slightly lucky in one regard: the higher buildings from the upper Quarters meant that they were well-insulated from most of the wind-chill, and Yuri and Flynn were lucky to be on the second floor, out of direct contact with the heat-sapping ground while whatever small bit of heat was generated below them rose and helped to keep their room at a stable 'teeth-chattering' cold as opposed to outright lethal.

Then some people had gotten the idea in their minds to commit a crime and get arrested for it, getting a free stay in the palace dungeons that were merely slightly chilled. The only thing that had done was get all the guards up in arms and start harsher punishments. Now Flynn and Yuri had a flogging out in the snow to look forward to if they got caught.

Yuri let out a frosted sigh, his chilled fingers wrapped around a cup of cold water before holding it out, "This is about as good as it's gonna get."

Flynn thanked him and unzipped his jacket, the cat's furry head popping up like a spring daisy with a small mew. The blonde held the mug so kitty-Yuri could get a drink. Yuri looked away as the feline shivered from being exposed to the cold air for even a few moments. That was another thing to worry about; people were getting desperate and small animals around town were disappearing. Survival meant more to some than other people's pets, apparently. Not that Yuri and Flynn had been immune; the dark haired boy's skill with stone-slinging had brought them more than one meal when unwary birds were near. But it was to the point where even the vermin were near-gone and everyone was waiting desperately for the coming spring.

Even the spirit of the holiday season in the upper Quarters was strained with a sense of desperation, smiles forced as peddlers praised their wares for the coming gift exchanges. At the very least it meant they were near the end of winter, but Yuri wasn't sure they'd make it the rest of the way. If he felt like being ruthlessly honest, both he and Flynn had dropped a dangerous amount of weight, and what little meat they could get they both shared with their furry companion. It was stupid and sentimental and likely to wind up with them all dead, because the cat certainly wouldn't survive the rest of the season without them there to care for it; and neither of them could help themselves, practicality be damned.

"Yuri?"

Another thing: his mind was wandering more and more, and that worried him; mistakes could be fatal, "Sorry, what?"

"...Are we going out?"

They had to get something to eat that was more than flavored water- and Yuri didn't miss that Flynn put more of the coco into his because of his damned sweet tooth. "Yeah, not like we'll find anything here." He grabbed the stones from the table and put them in his pocket in case they'd need them, going over to hold their cat's head down so Flynn could zip his coat over to keep it warm.

They made their way up to the Public Quarter- it was certain they wouldn't find anything in the Lower Quarter. Flynn was unusually quiet next to him, even in the darkest times, Flynn had always tried to keep Yuri from losing hope by keeping him distracted with small talk. By the time noon rolled around and they'd come no closer to a meal, Yuri was more worried about Flynn than his complaining stomach.

They settled down on a bench, watching young upper Quarter children run around throwing snow and shrieking as they played in the white stuff. Or, more accurately, Flynn watched them while Yuri watched him, "Flynn? Is something wrong?"

Flynn was quiet for a few moments more before looking down, "Do you remember when you saved Yuri and I told you I didn't want you putting yourself at risk for something like that again?"

"Flynn, I assure you: being offered the throne itself wouldn't get me to jump into a body of moving water in this cold."

The blonde finally smiled at that, looking over at him, "No, I know, it's just... Isn't that what we're doing now?"

Yuri blinked, looked up at the sky, then back to the other boy, "I know snow is technically water..." he trailed off.

"I... I think we should find find a home for Yuri."

He stiffened. It was a thought that had crossed his mind, but just as quickly been put aside; that cat meant everything to Flynn. And maybe he had gotten a slight bit attached to it himself- not the point. They'd made it through so much together, how could Flynn-  _Flynn_!- suggest giving the little furball away? He stood up in anger, "How can you say that? I didn't risk my life for that little ball of fuzz to-"

"But that's just it, Yuri; that's what I've been making you do all winter: risk your life- risk all of our lives, because I was unwilling to give up a cat. I-I love him, he's the first pet I've ever had- but when you love something, you have to think of what's best for  _it_ , not yourself. It's not best for him to stay with us when we can barely feed ourselves."

"Where would we even put him? You know pets have been going missing, the moment he's out of our sight he's liable to end up dinner for some desperate soul with a taste for domestic animals."

"I know a place..."

Yuri raised an eyebrow, "You 'know a place'?"

"I... I've been thinking of this for a while."

"Since  _when?_ "

"Since the night you waited until you thought I was asleep to slip him your dinner and went hungry."

He looked away, unable to stare into those too-bright blue eyes, "I've gone hungry before. I can handle it."

"That's just it: we  _can't_ handle it anymore. Yuri,  _please_..." he sighed and sat again, and Flynn nodded towards the playing children, "See that little girl, there? I overheard her in the market the one day; all she wants for the holiday is a kitten, it's all she's asked her parents for. And they have money- money enough to take care of him, but there haven't been any street cats around because- well..."

Yuri sat in silence for several minutes, eyes turned up to the clouds above, "You've been thinking about this a lot, haven't you?"

"I have."

"Flynn..."

"It's okay, really. This is best for all of us."

Yuri let out a harsh laugh that was almost a sob, "I'm sorry." he wiped at his eyes, turning to face Flynn, "Let me see." The blonde unzipped his coat, the fuzzy black head popping up, and Yuri leaned in close, rubbing his nose against the young cat's equally chilled one, hearing the rising purr in response, "We tried our best, I'm sorry it wasn't enough. You're annoying,  _so_ annoying. You get up insanely early and stay up late, chasing shadows across the room, you seem to take great pleasure in using my stomach as a springboard, you take up more than your fair share of the bed- though I don't mind much that it's Flynn's half." the blonde gave a watery chuckle and leaned their foreheads together as they stared down and the purring bundle, hand coming up to wipe at tears Yuri didn't realize were his, "You're a constant bother, heat-seeking little demon, and your definition of 'presents' needs major redefining, and I am going to miss you so,  _so_  much..."

"*mew*"

Yuri rubbed a velvety ear, then pushed the little head back down and zipped it up. He stood up and wiped his eyes furiously, Flynn scrubbing at his own wet cheeks with the arm of his jacket, then the dark-haired boy took a deep breath and cleared his throat, "Come on."

Flynn stood and followed him before asking, "Where are we going?"

"We're going to do this the right way."

That night, just before the killing cold set in, Yuri and Flynn were in the better-off part of the Public Quarter and hidden from plain sight in a darkened alley after placing a carefully prepared package on the doorstep across the street and knocking loud enough to wake the dead. They watched as the door opened, spilling light into the street, and a woman stepped out with a little girl at her waist, spotting the box on their step. Without waiting for her mother's permission, the little girl reached down and pulled the top off of the box, a small, dark, fuzzy form popping up with a meow, bright red and green ribbon around his neck tied in a too-big bow. The girl squealed happily and picked him up, cuddling him close, "Kitty!"

Her mother checked the tag attached to the bow, "His name is Yuri." she looked back out at the street again, and Yuri slid a little deeper into the alley, Flynn at his side, before she turned away, "Hmm. Well, let's get him inside out of the cold and get him something to eat."

"Welcome home, Yuri."

The two boys in the shadows pulled back as the door closed, walking back to the Lower Quarter hand-in-hand, the gald they'd been saving up to get each other a small gift surprise put to use as good-bye presents for the missing one of their trio. All they had left was each other and Yuri's hand tightened around Flynn's, his voice thick, "Merry Christmas, Flynn."

"Merry Christmas, Yuri..."


	8. Chapter 8

Flynn looked over at the dark haired boy next to him, "Yuri? What are you looking at?"

Yuri frowned at the night sky above them, "Do you ever feel like there's something more out there?"

The blonde gave him a look, "...Well, there's the whole rest of the world out there..."

Yuri sat up, one knee drawn up and his arm resting on it, "Not like that. I mean, what do you want to do, Flynn?"

"Do?"

"Yeah, like, over all, you know?"

He recalled that first conversation they'd had, "I want to make things fair, remember?"

Yuri smiled, "Yeah, me, too. But, how do we start?"

"...Do you have a plan?"

"...Maybe."

"Are you going to tell me, or are you going to just keep it all to yourself?"

Yuri rested his head on his arm, "Well... I've been thinking about the Furball. I've been thinking about how making that little girl happy made me feel. I like that feeling. I think... I want to make people happy, and make things fair."

Flynn rolled over so he could see the whole night sky and not just Yuri, "Those are good goals... but that doesn't sound like a plan."

"Everyone in the Lower Quarter suffered through that winter, not just us. But everyone up in the Royal Quarter lived in the lap of luxury all season. That doesn't seem fair to me."

"...We're going to get in a lot more trouble again, aren't we?"

Yuri finally looked at him completely and smiled, "Yeah; probably."

Flynn took a long breath, and let out a deep sigh. Chances of death and injury were part and parcel with Yuri, criminal activity more of a given; it was like Yuri had taught him all that time ago; it was all a matter of degree and necessity. Flynn hummed in thought, "You know, you sound a little like a story my mom used to tell me..."

"What story is that?"

"The story of Brave Vesperia, the brightest star in the sky." he sat up and scooted closer to Yuri to point up, "...That one, right there."

"And how did that story go?"

"That a long time ago this great threat to the whole world appeared and everyone that tried to stop it was lost to its darkness. When everything was at its darkest, and there seemed to be no hope at all, two people appeared, and together they were able to get rid of the darkness. One of them was called Brave Vesperia, and left to the sky to watch over the world from then on to make sure the darkness never came back, while the other stayed to help the people. You remind me of Brave Vesperia, just this bright star watching over everything and trying to correct everything wrong with the world."

Yuri laughed and pushed Flynn over, "Shut up. Like you're any better! Maybe I'm the one that stays behind while you go on to lofty heights mister morals."

"I'd stay with you, I think." Yuri followed him down and laid his head against Flynn's shoulder, "...Yuri?"

"The ground is hard and you make a good pillow. So, tell me again how I'm like this star. Tell me that story again."

Flynn felt his face heating up, "A-alright. Once upon a time..."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is technically the last chapter; after this is an epilogue of sorts.

Yuri's smile could be heard in his voice- good thing, too, because Flynn had no chance of seeing it from his angle and position, "What's the matter, Golden Boy? Having trouble keeping up?"

Flynn groaned, "Yuri, you're showing off again."

The dark-haired teen laughed and he taunted, "Maybe... Come on, Flynn, you'd think you were a rookie again with a showing like this, am I too much for you?"

The blonde shook his head even as he grinned, "Maybe I just like the view from back here."

Yuri looked back in confusion, wondering what in the world could be so fascinating behind him; nope, just his own self. He rolled his eyes, typical Flynn. Yuri shook his head and grabbed the back of Flynn's outfit as a patrol of soldiers went past the alley, smirked back at the blushing blonde, then took off again. They weren't even half-way out of the Royal Quarter when the hue and cry went up and Yuri rolled his eyes. The guards doubled their activities, all the way down to the Public Quarter, but he just sighed.

"You'd think they'd learn." Yuri drew a few hefty, rounded stones from his pockets, one tossed as far as he could and getting the guards' attention while he and Flynn slipped around the next block, then he had the blonde hoist him up on top of the wall of a private garden, sitting on the lip and pulling his accomplice up next to him. The ledge was wider than his boot; it was child's play to run along the top of it and jump to the next one over across the residential area.

They were as good as shadows slipping through the night, the only light coming from Brave Vesperia over their heads on the moonless night. At the gate separating the Royal and Public Quarters, two more well-aimed stones dropped the soldiers so they could get through, and not far into the Public Quarter Yuri headed left toward the bridge and vaulted off of it, landing on the narrow ledge to the side of the waterway below in a perfect crouch, Flynn never more than a step behind.

Turning around the opposite way, Yuri took off at a run, his golden shadow at his heels when the waterway dropped suddenly into an underground aqueduct, they didn't pause and Yuri once again launched himself out into open air, touching down on top of one of the taller buildings in what was officially the Lower Quarter. Silent as the night, Flynn and Yuri snuck down below, leaving things as they went and lightening their loads.

By the time they made it back to the apartment, they only had enough left to split between them for breakfast and lunch. Flynn had gotten much better over the years; so had Yuri. Yuri still couldn't beat Flynn in a fight, Flynn still couldn't do grace if his life depended on it; ropes were still his bane, and trees weren't much better. He still couldn't cook to save his life, either, which Yuri took every opportunity to point out. While Yuri wasn't the best cook, and his repertoire mostly consisted of eight-hundred and two recipes for sandwiches, it was still miles ahead of anything Flynn could attempt with any hope of not poisoning someone.

Grabbing their pilfered fruit, the teens went down to watch the Lower Quarter wake up, the sun just peaking over the horizon when they sat down on the steps, listening to happy voices as people found they had more than they'd thought. Not excessively, just enough to get by when they'd been certain the night before that they hadn't had that much.

Children were sent outside to play and Flynn and Yuri watched as parents breathed sighs of relief. Yuri leaned back against the blond with a grin, "Not too bad."

Flynn watched the simple happiness of the people around him, "Yuri, I've been thinking..."

"Uh-oh."

"Oh, hush, you."

The dark haired teen laughed, with him or at him he wasn't perfectly certain, "And tell me, what has the Amazing Flynn thought of now?"

"I think I want to join the knights." Yuri was silent in front of him, so he continued on, "I'm old enough now to join them. We've worked on the happy; I think it's time to start working towards the fairness."

Yuri was silent long enough that Flynn began to worry that he would just get up and walk away, "You realize it's not going to be easy. They aren't going to be nice, and you're going to have to fight for every inch you climb up that ladder; lick boots, kiss ass."

"Yeah, I know. I've thought it all through. This is what I want. This is my chance to change things."

Yuri stood up and put his hands behind his head, stretching with a groan before turning to the blonde, "Okay, then."

"Okay?"

"Okay: let's go show those over-perfumed, ruffled, royal-ass-kissing monkeys what two riffraff street-rats can do."

"Just like that?"

"Well, no; I imagine we're going to have to put a few of them in their places at least a couple times. But those are the basics; yeah."

Flynn stood up and shook his head, smiling. What had he been thinking? Like Yuri was ever going to let him just go off like that alone. "Stuck with you, aren't I?"

Yuri's returning smile made everything around seem brighter, "Only for the rest of forever."


	10. Epilogue

Yuri crossed his arms in as he stared at the blonde Commandant, "You're nothing but trouble, you know that?  _All_  of my troubles lead back to you."

Flynn was honestly surprised, "Me?"

"Do you  _see_  any other blondes who've been glued to my side since childhood around near-by?"

"How have  _I_  been trouble?"

"Let me count the ways: from your kicked-puppy look whenever things don't go your way to your over-inflated morals that would have you starve to death before taking a bite from someone else, vindictiveness over the success of others-"

"Are you  _still_  holding that against me? We were  _kids_! It was just a  _pond_."

"-your cat, your insane training regimen, your lack of significant balance and aim-"

"Your sugar beets."

Yuri paused for a moment mid-rant, then amended his earlier statement, "Ninety percent of my troubles lead back to you. And you owe me a new pair of boots."

"Excuse me? ...Did you just imply that the world almost ending was because of me?"

Yuri tilted his head, "Who was it that the princess left the castle and the capital to find?"

"You cannot seriously be blaming everything on me."

"...Ninety percent."

Flynn gave that sad-puppy look, "You know you love me."

"...Yes: Yes, I do."

Flynn stared at him in shock, "...Eh?"

"I said you were trouble, I didn't say you weren't worth it." Yuri rolled his eyes and snorted, pulling Flynn closer by his outfit, and true to form, the blonde lost his balance just right for him to crash their lips together. Flynn was shocked enough that he didn't react for so long that Yuri pulled back and gave him a long, assessing look, then grinned, "You know, you really kinda suck at this..."

That seemed to snap Flynn out of his stupor and get him to respond, pulling Yuri close, "So teach me."

"Just like walking a beam: it just... takes-" he pecked the other's lips, "-practice."

Flynn kissed him that time, angling Yuri's head and causing the dark-haired man to moan into his mouth as their tongues met. When he pulled back, Yuri was slightly dazed, "How was that?"

"Better; definitely better, could still use some work, though."

"How long do I have to master it?"

"Just the rest of forever."

Flynn hummed against his lips, "Best start early, then."


End file.
